I'd like to see Keith on C-SPAN's morning call-in show, "Wash. Journal"

[WhirlyGirl]

It's on EVERY morning, starting at 7am, and running until whenever the House of Representatives comes in -- usually around 10am.

C-SPAN is 100% commercial-free and is supported by a small percentage of each cable customer's monthly bill. The channel's original purpose was to show the House in session, gavel-to-gavel -- but it quickly expanded its programming to encompass a great deal more.

C-SPAN stands for Cable-Supported Public Affairs Network. A guest on the network can therefore be anyone involved in government, seeking to influence the government, or reporting on the government.

The guest segments are quite long -- normally 30 minutes or more -- and, after briefly discussing with the host what the s/he has been doing in his/her career, practically all the guest does is take calls from viewers.

The calls come in on three lines: Supporters of the administration, Democrats, and "others" -- and the calls are rotated to make sure all points of view get a fair hearing.

I was very surprised that Keith wasn't invited on the show during the election aftermath, since he was getting so much attention for his coverage of election irregularities. But I'm sure there are still lots of questions folks would like to ask about that and other stories he's emphasized -- such as the phenomenon of WH-paid propagandists posing as bloggers and radio talkers and "WH correspondents."

Seems to me there are three things we should do, if the group considers this a worthwhile project:
~ Write to Keith and ask if he'd be interested in appearing on Washington Journal, where he would mainly be discussing the role of journalism in covering public affairs and how he approaches such stories himself. That way, if he gets the call from Brian Lamb he won't be caught flat-footed, wondering where the idea originated.
~ E-mail, write or call C-SPAN to request that they invite him to guest on Washington Journal.
~ Call C-SPAN in the morning with a question for the CURRENT guest -- but FIRST ask the host if s/he would mind your suggesting a FUTURE guest (this technique is a bit devious; however, right-wingers use it all the time, and the host won't be too annoyed as long as you're very brief and your follow-up question for the guest is serious and on the topic.)

P.S. If Keith ever produces another BOOK (which I actually hope he is secretly working on during these vacations!), he will immediately be a candidate to appear on C-SPAN'S weekend companion network, Book-TV.

[WhirlyGirl]

1. A clarification --

4th paragraph from the top currently reads:

The guest segments are quite long -- normally 30 minutes or more -- and, after briefly discussing with the host what the s/he has been doing in his/her career, practically all the guest does is take calls from viewers.

But it SHOULD read:

The guest segments ON "WASHINGTON JOURNAL" are quite long -- normally 30 minutes or more -- and, after briefly discussing with the host what the s/he has been doing in his/her career, practically all the guest does is take calls from viewers.

--WhirlyG

[WhirlyGirl]

2. Any thoughts yet, concerning this?

[gkhouston]

3. big question: is Keith remotely interested in doing this?

no doubt we'd love listening to him natter on, but does he want to get up at the crack of dawn (relative to his normal schedule -- he probably is a night owl, given his usual work schedule) and subject himself to a bunch of crank callers? If he's in one of his puckish moods, he might love it. If he's been dumped on a lot lately, maybe not.

[WhirlyGirl]

4. Hence, suggestion #1 of the original post ...

~ Write to Keith and ask if he'd be interested in appearing on Washington Journal, where he would mainly be discussing the role of journalism in covering public affairs and how he approaches such stories himself. That way, if he gets the call from Brian Lamb he won't be caught flat-footed, wondering where the idea originated.